Sandy Alomar, Jr.

Santos "Sandy" Alomar, Jr., or in the Spanish-language naming system Santos Alomar Velázquez (, ; born June 18, 1966 in Salinas, Puerto Rico), is a former Major League Baseball catcher who played for the San Diego Padres (–), Cleveland Indians (–), Chicago White Sox (–, –) and (), Colorado Rockies (2002), Texas Rangers (), Los Angeles Dodgers (2006), and New York Mets (). He is the son of former major leaguer Sandy Alomar, Sr., and the brother of former second baseman Roberto Alomar. He is now the first base coach for the Cleveland Indians.

Major league career

Alomar was a highly regarded catcher in the San Diego organization after being named Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year in both 1988 and 1989, but he was stuck behind Benito Santiago at the Major League level. After two short call-ups with the Padres, he finally got his chance at an everyday job after being traded to Cleveland after the 1989 season along with Carlos Baerga and Chris James, in exchange for power-hitter Joe Carter. Once in Cleveland, he established himself immediately, becoming the first rookie catcher to start an All-Star game and winning both Rookie of the Year honors and a Gold Glove Award.

Alomar was selected as an All-Star in 1991 and 1992. However, his 1992 season was largely lost due to injuries, and he finished the year with zero home runs and only seven RBIs in 199 at-bats. Over the next few years, Alomar suffered several injuries and failed to realize his...
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